A few posts ago I asked a future audience to give me ideas for an upcoming talk (stop calling it laziness…this is customer service). I had a really good request that I read this morning, asking that I talk about creating balance in the lives of students, suggesting ways that they can live in a real (as well as digital) world.
I responded (well, you could actually go back and read my response, but…) by saying that this is a very important topic and that I will find a way to address it in my talk. However, I'm hesitant to make many promises in this area, because as desirable as it sounds, I have no idea what balance is…or will be.
By saying this, I open myself to immediate attack, because the term balance has become a weapon in the polemical conflict between the tech friendly and the tech wary. For the tech-friendly, balance means including more resources and platforms in academic life (and life in general). For tech wary (and this is more often the case), balance means using fewer tech tools and more “traditional” tools and ways of relating to one another. This type of balance often talks about the value of “face to face” communication and the “human touch.”
Fundamentally, I don't think anyone has any idea what balance is or will be. It's easy to tell horror stories about kids unable to pull themselves away from cell phones or Gameboys (I think I have dated myself by using that term), but it is harder to describe the elusive balance. I don't know how well we navigate the balances of earlier generations: work and home, parenthood and career, individual liberties and civic responsibilities, sleep and awake, hunting and gathering.
I'm fairly certain that I am out of balance, but I don't know whether I can get to balance…or if balance would even work for me!
So while I think we need to search for good ideas, I also think we need to view balance as an evolving definition and an evolving reality.
As always, I welcome your comments.
Image credit: 'Free Child Walking on White Round Spheres+Balance+Creative+Commons' http://www.flickr.com/photos/40645538@N00/233228813
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Maybe “balance” ought to be what enables you to function best? But I suppose that that opens up a whole other can of worms on “functioning best.”